Old cars and bad backs.

You know I went to a chiropractor last week for the first time in my 37 years. I was always very leary of them, I went three times and my back pain is gone. After 2 weeks of restrictions and vicoden it's gone

 

Dude... This is why you have your local buddies here from the HAMB. People are always willing to come over and help work on cars. Just make it a party. Grab some beer and some food and invite a few friends over.

I agree with everyone else here. Soft comfortable suspention and a nice supportive seat. That should do the trick.

 

Man back pain can be............well, a pain!
Airborne + SF= parachute accident that ended my Military career. Broke my back in three places, both ankles, all ribs on the right side, right wrist, jaw ans skull (If your gonna do something, do it right!)

Go see a doctor, don't let them cut you open and find a PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINIC.
Honestly after a couple of years seeing neuro surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine doctors, physios etc, etc, the only thing that helped was the Pain Management Clinic.
Now I don't live on pain medication and to a limited degree do what I want. I can work on my car and drive it, less than I did but I can do it and so can you.
I thought these things were for pussies and I could do without it, but I went and haven't looked back since. Talk to your local GP about a referral to one ASAP.
Cheers,
Doc.

 

I agree, don't give up the car (unless you want to sell it to me) just kidding. Seriously, I have a buddy that dove in to the ocean last summer, he snapped his neck and his doctor said that he would never walk again. His old lady took him to church to get prayed for, not a crazy holy-roller church, but just a regular corner church, and some people prayed for him, and in a few weeks of that, he was walking. His doctor said that 1 in 30,000 people with his injury are able to walk again....just a thought.

 

Well, I think I'm going to give recovering the bench a try and see where that gets me. You only live once.

 

When they recover the bench, make sure they upgrade all the springs/padding etc under the cover to correct original specs.

My daily driver car seat is 30 years old. It's got (or rather it had) a rubber spring under the seat cushion to correctly support the seat base. After 30 years the rubber died along the back of the squab and the seat base 'dropped' just a little bit (couple of inches) This was enough to push my lower back out of line when I sat in it, but not enough for me to notice... Until my back started to freeze up and ache really badly that is.

I smashed up my spine wiping out in a huge point surf back in the 70's (cooler than having an industrial accident, but hurt just as bloody much!) and I've had problems with it ever since. I actually didn't realise it was my car seat for a couple of weeks, until I put mine in for a service and drove my wife's for a while and the pain suddenly stopped.

Once I realised what was wrong I ripped out the seat and fixed it. Back ache vanished just like that. If your seat is worn then it's probably sagged as well, and this may just be the cause of the problem. Get them to 'restore' the original posture setting for the seat and you'll soon know.

Good luck, Glen.

 

I've got a 55 chevy that is lowered the same as your 57. I'm just running a nice quality set of shocks with a rebushed suspension and the car rides great.But even with the ride my back used to hurt after I drove it for a half hour.I noticed that the stock bench seat actually was not straight across. It leaned back a little in the middle, hardly noticeable.I fixed that but still had problems so I put a set of 65 buckets in it and it's better now but not great. But if you like the look of a bench seat I have another answer. I built a 32 sedan this year and the stock seats were killing me because it felt like I was riding on one big spring right under my tail bone. The rest of the seat wasn't supporting anything. I was talking to a seat manufacturer at a car show and he told me to send him the lower halves of my buckets and he would remove the vinyl and replace it with the modern foam and suspension that he uses to build his new seats. He shaped the seats to match the originals and then recovered them with the vinyl he took off and charged me $250. Made a hell of a difference.Makes sense too considering that your replacing 75 year old outdated design with modern stuff. Now I wish I would have done that with the 55's bench seat. Would have been alot cheaper and rode better.So check with some seat manufacturers in the area.There is no reason why you can't get the 57 to ride comfortably for you and your back.Might only cost three or four hundred dollars.Good luck.

 

Dude, you know you don't want to sell that car. You'd never let yourself live it down if you did. Yeah, your back is jacked, but before throwing in the towel, you need to be able to say you did everything in your power to prevent having to get rid of the car. I know I've said it before, but your overall physical condition isn't exactly ideal for supporting a bad back and if you don't make an effort to change it soon, having to get rid of the Bel Air will be the least of your worries. I'm not saying exercise and healthier living will be the end all cure all to your back trouble, but I can guarantee it will make a huge difference over not doing anything at all.

I know someone willing to help you get in shape and in the meantime, save your pennies and that seat issue will eventually fix itself. Remember, when your too sore for a cruise, I'm sure that same guy won't mind driving your ass around like Ms. Daisy. The passenger side in that thing ain't half-bad.

-Jimmy